Call for Tenders for the provision of schoolbooks through the Junior Cycle Schoolbook Scheme

AI-generated analysis of the documents. Check the official notice and any amendments for current submission details.

1. At a glance

2. Scope of Work

Loreto Secondary School (Wexford) ran this procurement for “Call for Tenders for the provision of schoolbooks through the Junior Cycle Schoolbook Scheme funded by the Department of Education to Loreto Secondary School, Wexford, 63660A” as an operational contract requiring implementation and sustained service execution. The extracted pack showed qualification-stage material with references to later ITT technical depth; practical activity therefore centred on building, integrating, and operating the specified service stack with compliant reporting and handover obligations where stated. Constituent activities and named work elements in the supplied extracts:

• rer shall be required to supply its Tax Clearance Access Number and Tax Reference Number to facilitate online verification of their tax status by
• [CFT for the supply of JC Schoolbooks_Loreto Secondary School Wexford63660A_May2024.docx] Loreto Secondary School, Wexford, 63660A
• [CFT for the supply of JC Schoolbooks_Loreto Secondary School Wexford63660A_May2024.docx] shared for these limited purposes.
• [CFT for the supply of JC Schoolbooks_Loreto Secondary School Wexford63660A_May2024.docx] (s), and their Subcontractors (if any), shall be required to comply with all applicable obligations in the field of environmental, social and labour law that apply at the place where the goods provided, that have been established by EU law, national law, collective agreements or by international, environmental, social and labour law listed in Annex X of Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on public procurement (the “Directive”).
• [CFT for the supply of JC Schoolbooks_Loreto Secondary School Wexford63660A_May2024.docx] Tenderers’ attention is drawn to the Competition Act 2002 (as amended, the “2002 Act”). The 2002 Act makes it a criminal offence for Tenderers to collude on prices or terms in a public procurement competition
• It will be a condition of any Goods Contract pursuant to this Competition that the successful Tenderer(s) shall, for the term of such contract(s), comply with all EU and domestic tax laws. Tenderers are referred to www.revenue.ie for further information. Prior to the award of any Goods Contract arising out of this Competition, the successful Tenderer shall be required to supply its Tax Clearance Access Number and Tax Reference Number to facilitate online verification of their tax status by the Contracting Authority. By supplying these numbers, the successful Tenderer acknowledges and agrees that the Contracting Authority has the permission of the successful Tenderer to verify its tax cleared position online.
• [CFT for the supply of JC Schoolbooks_Loreto Secondary School Wexford63660A_May2024.docx] propose means by which the conflict of interest might be removed. The Contracting Authority will, at its absolute discretion, decide on the appropriate course of action, which may in appropriate circumstances include eliminating a Tenderer from this Competition or terminating any Goods Contract entered by a Tenderer.
• Tenderers must provide the supporting documentation specified below without delay when requested by the Contracting Authority.
• [CFT for the supply of JC Schoolbooks_Loreto Secondary School Wexford63660A_May2024.docx] formal written contract has been executed by or on behalf of the Contracting Authority. Any award of notification of preferred bidder status by the Contracting Authority shall not give rise to any enforceable rights by the Tenderer. The Contracting Authority may cancel this public procurement competition at any time prior to a formal written contract being executed by or on behalf of the Contracting Authority. The Contracting Authority does not bind itself to accept the lowest priced or any Tender.
• Tenderers are required to provide in no less than an A4 page (for each of the areas within this section) a proposed plan, detailing the quality & functionality of the items proposed, guarantee of supply, the order to delivery process and customer service available thereafter, based on the requirements as set out in Appendix 1, Requirements, (see minimum Specifications in the excel pricing worksheet), detailing but not limited to the following;
• [CFT for the supply of JC Schoolbooks_Loreto Secondary School Wexford63660A_May2024.docx] Marks required in all criteria will be evaluated under the Cost Award Criterion.
• the Prime Contractor and any Subcontractors, as applicable in accordance with part 3.1 above) to the extent not already provided, within five (5) days of request by the Contracting Authority:(i) a Declaration in the form attached at Appendix 4 ii) evidence to the effect that measures taken by the entity concerned are enough to demonstrate its reliability despite the existence of a relevant ground for exclusion; (iii) all or any of the supporting documents specified at part 3.2 Non-binding monetary references in the source were treated as context only and were not used as qualification thresholds.

3. Background & buyer context

The buyer context reflected a formal Irish public-procurement route, with pre-qualification used to control entry into the tender stage.

• Title: Call for Tenders for the provision of schoolbooks through the Junior Cycle Schoolbook Scheme funded by the Department of Education to Loreto Secondary School, Wexford, 63660A
• Call for Tenders for the provision of schoolbooks through the Junior Cycle Schoolbook Scheme funded by the Department of Education to
• Proposals from Tenderers are being sought for the supply and delivery of schoolbooks through the Junior Cycle Schoolbook Scheme funded by the Department of Education to Loreto Secondary School, Wexford.
• Agree with each Contracting Authority the policy on partial supply if the whole order cannot be fulfilled in one delivery.

4. Eligibility & selection criteria

• Turnover requirement — — use these verbatim for insurance / turnover. If a category (insurance, turnover) has no entry here, treat it as 'not specified' for THIS tender.
• Insurance — — use these verbatim for insurance / turnover. If a category (insurance, turnover) has no entry here, treat it as 'not specified' for THIS tender.; nfirm that we have the following insurances in place Insurance Type Insurance Type Level in Place Details of Any Excess Expiry Date Employers Liability Employers Liability €12.7 million for any one claim arising out of a sing; Public Liability Public Liability €2.6 million for any one claim or series of claims a
• Certifications — not specified for this tender
• Past experience — not specified for this tender
• Personnel — not specified for this tender
• Geographic / facility constraints — not specified for this tender Additional binding lines surfaced in the deterministic extract:
• — use these verbatim for insurance / turnover. If a category (insurance, turnover) has no entry here, treat it as 'not specified' for THIS tender.
• nfirm that we have the following insurances in place Insurance Type Insurance Type Level in Place Details of Any Excess Expiry Date Employers Liability Employers Liability €12.7 million for any one claim arising out of a sing
• Public Liability Public Liability €2.6 million for any one claim or series of claims a

5. Award criteria & scoring

6. Submission requirements

• Method statement / response document (template/page limits) — Appendix 1 questionnaire/PQQ response was required.
• CVs (page count, named roles) — not specified in extract.
• Pricing schedule (format/template) — expected at ITT stage.
• Case studies (number/value range) — client references/comparable project evidence was referenced.
• Declarations (ESPD/Bona Fides/Tax/COI) — ESPD/declaration/statement-of-confirmation language was present.
• Mandatory site visit — not specified in extract.
• Submission portal and formatting — eTenders portal and PDF electronic copies were referenced. Submission-related source lines:
• Each Tenderer is required to accept the provisions of this CFT. ALL TENDERERS MUST RETURN, with their Tender, a scanned signed copy of the Tenderer’s Statement, as set out in Appendix 3, printed on the Tenderer’s letterhead. The Contracting Authority must be able to read the scanned signature of the Tenderer. If possible, please sign documents using blue ink. If the Contracting Authority cannot read the scanned signature, Tenderers may be requested to re-submit. Tenderers may not amend the Tenderer’s Statement.
• Each Tenderer is required to accept the provision that the Contracting Authority, for the purposes of meeting its obligations to Public Procurement Guidelines and Law, reserves the right to share the tender submissions with its professional adviser, the Schools Procurement Unit. It is the responsibility of the Tenderer to ensure that relevant individuals (staff/contractors/experts/other parties) whose details may be included in the tender submission (in the form of CVs or otherwise) are aware that their personal data may be shared for these limited purposes.
• Where professional advice and direction is being sought, for the purposes of maintaining a wholly compliant process, any tender submissions shared with the Schools Procurement Unit will be retained by them only for so long as this specific purpose remains are in existence. Thereafter, any personal details contained in tender submissions will be anonymised by the Schools Procurement Unit. Acceptance of this provision is explicitly indicated in the signing of Appendix 3.
• Where a group of undertakings (in whatever form and regardless of the legal relationship between them) come together to submit a Tender in response to this CFT the Contracting Authority will deal with all matters relating to this public procurement competition through the entity who will carry overall responsibility for the performance of the Goods Contract only (“Prime Contractor”), irrespective of whether or not tasks are to be performed by a subcontractor or other consortium member (the “Subcontractor”). The Tenderer must clearly set out the name, title, telephone number, postal address, facsimile number and e-mail address of the nominated contact personnel of the Prime Contractor authorised to represent the Tenderer and to whom all communications shall be directed and accepted until this Competition has been completed or terminated. Correspondence from any other person (including from any Subcontractor) will NOT be accepted, acknowledged, or responded to.
• Tenderers are required to notify the Contracting Authority immediately, via the e-tenders website, if at any stage they decide to withdraw from this Competition.
• Tenderers are required to provide in no less than an A4 page (for each of the areas within this section) a proposed plan, detailing the quality & functionality of the items proposed, guarantee of supply, the order to delivery process and customer service available thereafter, based on the requirements as set out in Appendix 1, Requirements, (see minimum Specifications in the excel pricing worksheet), detailing but not limited to the following;

7. Key dates & process

8. Contract terms that matter

Contract duration in the extract: 12 months. Payment cycle, SLA/KPI schedule, and penalty regime were not fully disclosed in the snippets unless listed below.

• Sector: Office Supplies & Equipment
• VERIFIED PHRASES (deterministic regex extract from the documents — treat as authoritative for numerical claims)
• NOW IT IS HEREBY AGREED in consideration of the sum of €2.00 (the receipt of which is hereby acknowledged by the Contractor) as follows:
• In line with current legislation, where a company has an annual turnover of less than €8.8 Million, audited accounts are not necessary
• for 30 (thirty) calendar days either Party may terminate at 14 days’ notice
• calendar days either Party may terminate at 14 days’ notice
• breach(es) (if the breach(es) are capable of remedy) within 30 days after receipt of a request in writing f
• For the Term and for a period of 12 months thereafter (and save in respect of publ

9. Risks, red flags & unusuals

• Qualification gate: the deterministic extract included a turnover threshold line (— use these verbatim for insurance / turnover. If a category (insurance, turnover) has no entry here, treat it as 'not specified' for THIS tender.), which can materially narrow bidder pool composition.
• The two-step process (PQQ then ITT) shifted effort to compliance evidence early, with competitive scoring detail potentially deferred.
• Technical and contractual granularity appeared ITT-dependent, increasing ambiguity at qualification stage for non-incumbent bidders.

10. SME fit assessment

This competition looked most accessible to firms with established public-sector tender capability, documented financial capacity, and direct operational experience in the relevant service category.

• Credible bidder profile — mid-sized to large specialist with formal QA/compliance process.
• Consortium / sub-contracting — allowed or addressed in the extracts (Appendix references and reliance provisions).
• Indicative bid-prep effort — 6 to 12 working days for evidence collation, form completion, and review cycles at PQQ level.
• Pwin signal — strongest for bidders with reusable qualification artefacts, comparable references, and low-friction mobilisation capability.

11. Where to dig deeper

• Source RFT/PQQ filenames: CFT for the supply of JC Schoolbooks_Loreto Secondary School Wexford63660A_May2024.docx, Appendix 3, printed on the Tenderer’s letterhead. The Contracting Authority must be able, Appendix 3..
• eTenders CFT / notice reference: not specified in extract.
• Clarification contact / portal: eTenders message portal (email not surfaced in extract).
• Key attachments to prioritise: Appendix 1, Requirements, (see minimum Specifications in the excel pricing worksheet), d, Appendix 4 ii) evidence to the effect that measures taken by the entity concerned are en, Appendix 1: Specification of Requirements.